Compliance tools · Environmental, health and safety

Single-Use Plastics Directive compliance tool

Directive (EU) 2019/904 · European Union · Binding instrument

Name anyone on your staff. The system makes them your compliance person.

A member of your own staff, with no compliance background, reads the training module, answers the interview, and finishes with your Single-Use Plastics Directive documentation cited article by article. The knowledge stays in the business.

Every account level runs inside a dedicated Claude account. Anyone can try a toolkit in their own Claude account; compliance work runs in a dedicated one. The Claude Max plan is £90 a month, paid to Anthropic, and is not included in any level.

See a finished report before you pay

Single-Use Plastics Directive is Directive (EU) 2019/904, a binding instrument in the European Union. Restrictions and marking requirements on single-use plastic products.

The free assessment screens for Single-Use Plastics Directive when a business places physical products on the market, or places packaged goods on the market, or manufactures goods, or imports goods.

Screen your business against all 116 agent toolkits, free →

• Your exact position under Single-Use Plastics Directive: what is in place, what is missing, and what to do about each gap.
• Documentation with article citations, ready for auditors, insurers, customers and public buyers.
• A trained person inside the business who understands what the regulation requires, and stays.
• A dated record of every section completed, with the reports themselves staying in your own Claude account. The toolkit is carried by an account level, see the plans.
• All of it completed in-house, at your own pace, without booking a single meeting.

Check that Single-Use Plastics Directive applies to your business, free →

Does Single-Use Plastics Directive apply to my business?

You are caught if you professionally manufacture, fill, sell or import single-use plastic products, filled single-use plastic products or fishing gear containing plastic and place them on the EU market, or sell by distance contract into another Member State (Article 3(11)). The Directive binds Member States, so it reaches you through national transposing law.

Who does Single-Use Plastics Directive apply to?

It applies to Member States, which had to transpose it by 3 July 2021 (Article 17(1)), and through that transposition to producers as defined in Article 3(11). Distance sellers, including e-commerce traders, are named in that producer definition.

Does Single-Use Plastics Directive apply to a small business?

The Directive has no size threshold. SMEs that professionally manufacture, fill, sell or import the listed products or fishing gear containing plastic are covered as producers, and the text states no employee or turnover exemption.

When does Single-Use Plastics Directive apply from, and what are the deadlines?

National transposing measures applied from 3 July 2021 (Article 17(1)). The Part B and oxo-degradable market restriction and the Part D marking requirement applied from 3 July 2021 (Articles 5, 7(1)); tethered caps from 3 July 2024 (Article 6(1)); EPR schemes by 31 December 2024, or 5 January 2023 for older schemes and Section III products (Article 8(1)).

What does Single-Use Plastics Directive require me to do?

You must stop placing Part B products and oxo-degradable plastic on the market (Article 5), supply Part C beverage containers only with attached caps or lids (Article 6(1)), meet recycled content figures for Part F bottles (Article 6(5)), mark Part D products (Article 7(1)), and fund and join EPR schemes (Article 8).

What happens if I do not comply with Single-Use Plastics Directive?

The Directive sets no fine amounts at EU level. Article 14 requires each Member State to lay down penalties that are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, so your exposure depends on the national law of each Member State where you place products on the market.

Does Single-Use Plastics Directive apply to a UK business selling into the EU?

Yes, where you sell by distance contract into another Member State. Article 3(11) includes in the producer definition any person established in one Member State or a third country that professionally sells directly to private households or other users in another Member State by distance contract.

Does Single-Use Plastics Directive apply to an EU business selling into the UK?

Yes, where the EU business sells by distance contract into the United Kingdom. The instrument states the producer definition covers sellers established in one Member State or a third country selling by distance contract into another Member State, and it does not address the United Kingdom separately.

How is Single-Use Plastics Directive different from Waste Framework Directive?

The Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC) sits higher in the waste hierarchy and supplies the definitions of waste, collection, separate collection, treatment and extended producer responsibility scheme used throughout this Directive. EPR schemes under Article 8 must comply with Articles 8 and 8a of the Waste Framework Directive.

How do I start complying with Single-Use Plastics Directive?

The first practical step is to check whether your products fall within the Annex parts, because the duties attach to Part A to Part F categories. The Commission published guidelines by 3 July 2020 including examples of what counts as a single-use plastic product (Article 12).

Which ComplianceSME account includes the Single-Use Plastics Directive toolkit?

The Single-Use Plastics Directive agent toolkit is included from the Small level.

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